Alstom UK welcome Energy Bill announcement

Today the Government published an Energy Bill to power low-carbon economic growth, to protect consumers, and to keep the lights on.

Introduced to Parliament by Edward Davey, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, the Bill proposes to dramatically reduce electricity demand across the whole UK economy.

Following extensive consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny, the Bill sets out radical reforms to the design of the electricity market that will kick-start a renaissance in construction of low-carbon energy infrastructure and in low-carbon manufacturing supply-chains.

Steve Burgin, Alstoms UK President, said: We welcome the publication of the Governments Energy Bill and look positively towards the start of the long awaited new investment in the UKs energy infrastructure to meet our short- to medium-term needs in the UK.

We also welcome the Government's proposal to amend the Bill to include a power to set a 2030 target. While being an important first step, we believe we need to get on with setting the actual figure; leaving it until 2016 presents the risk of reducing both the scale and pace of much needed long-term investments.

It is, however, heartening to see that the UKs energy policy has now progressed to embrace all technologies, from nuclear to renewables, with each being treated in a similar way. As the UK looks to decarbonise at a faster rate, this policy provides the fundamental building block upon which companies can look to invest in nuclear and carbon capture and storage and all forms of renewables.